Jean Van Hamme

This could easily be entitled Indiana Jones and the Curse of the 30 Pieces of Silver: it's that kind of adventure! There's also a twist of The Maltese Falcon in this cocktail, and why not?

Ploughing a similar furrow to other Blake and Mortimer adventures (Blake and Mortimer separate to get involved in seemingly disparate plots, but you know that they're going to be connected; shadowy figures tailing the heroes; journeys to far off places; OLRIK!), if you've read the series this far you're show more probably going to love this story.

The story involves the discovery of part of a mysterious treasure which seems to carry the curse of the Lord Almighty Himself, and which a cabal of Nazi survivors from the fall of the Third Reich intends to use to gain global dominion. The race is on for Mortimer and his comrades to recovery the rest of the treasure, and the power it represents, before the forces of evil beat them to it and secure a devastating occult weapon. Olrik's in on the plot, having been busted out of a federal penitentiary at the beginning of the story. Given he's the heroes' perpetual nemesis, he spends a lot of time playing second fiddle to more powerful figures, which is an interesting character trait.

Most of the story follows Mortimer's adventures, with Blake offstage for the majority of the narrative. As this is the first of a two-part story, I expect Blake to show up in the next installment just the nick of time (and probably in disguise!) to pull Mortimer's fat out of the fire.

Definitely one of the best entries in the series so far (reading in order of the English language editions). show less

Part 2 of The Curse of the 30 Pieces of Silver continues the Indiana Jones theme established in Part 1, but it's still very much a Blake and Mortimer production. Given that Jacobs's original stories were part of the tail-end of the Pulp tradition that inspired Lucas's movies, Van Hamme can be forgiven (if not thanked) for this homage.

The plot nicely weaves elements of Ancient Greek and early Christian stories into its central mystery, including an undeniable supernatural twist. Oh, and is show more that Captain Haddock's jumper Olrik is wearing at one point?

I also like the continuing frisson of attraction between Mortimer and Special Agent Jessie Wingo, set up in The Mysterious Encounter and developed in this two-parter. I'd be interested to see if this sub-plot goes anywhere.

That, however, will clearly have to wait some time as, reading the English-language series in order of publication, I now have to hop back to the early 1950s to read the three volumes of Jacobs's original Blake and Mortimer adventure, The Secret of the Swordfish! show less

Clearly inspired by John Buchan's The Thirty-nine Steps, this adventure sees Captain Blake on the run, accused of being a spy and a murderer, whilst Professor Mortimer pursues him across the north of England and into the Scottish Highlands in an attempt to aid and exonerate him.

Rather than one finger too few, as in the case of Hannay's nemesis, Blake and Mortimer must beware the man with six fingers!

When will Colonel Olrik learn not to stand so close behind Mortimer when covering him with a show more gun? It always ends with an elbow to the solar plexus and a right cross to the chin! Despite some predictable elements, the plot delivers some deft misdirections regarding the identity of the mole in the upper echelons of the intelligence service. show less

XIII finds himself thrust into fallout of what seems like actions of deranged man when general Carrington decides to take justice into his own hands and publicly accuse the main man behind the XX conspiracy.

Lots of twists and appearances of old characters. I have to admit reappearance of colone Amos was a shock - how come he is alive?

Recommended to all fans of thriller, action and of course XIII.